Shaving head for dry-shaving apparatus

ABSTRACT

A shaving head for a dry-shaving apparatus having at least one trimmer and having reciprocating drivable cutters which are formed by separate members and are made to engage with associated fixed counter-cutters by a single spring device acting between the drivable cutters.

United States Patent Meyer et al.

[ 1 Dec. 24, 1974 SHAVING HEAD FOR DRY-SHAVING APPARATUS [75] Inventors:Gerald Meyer; Leo Buzzi, both of Klagenfurt, Austria [73] Assignee: U.S.Phillips Corporation, New

York, N.Y.

[22] Filed: Mar. 1, 1973 [21] Appl. N0.: 337,090

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 1, 1972 Austria 1697/72 [52]US. Cl 30/34.1, 30/4392 [51] Int. Cl B261) 19/10 [58] Field of Search30/341, 346.51, 43.91, 30/4392 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 1,380,272 5/1921 Tomasulo 30/34.1 X

2,195,839 4/1940 Kleinman 30/3465 X 3,421,214 1/1969 Rinck l i l 30/3413,456,341 7/1969 Loner 30/34.l

3,590,482 7/1971 Carr 30/34.1 3,774,300 11/1973 Konig 30/34.]

Primary Examiner-Al Lawrence Smith Assistant Examiner-Gary L. SmithAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Frank R. Trifari 6 Claims, 4 Drawing FiguresPATENT Unmzmm SHEET 1 0F 2 I l 2Q 21 19 I22 24 1) 4 Fig. 2

SHAVING HEAD FOR DRY-SHAVING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Theinvention relates to a shaving head for a dry shaving apparatus havingreciprocable cutters associated with a shaving section and at least onetrimmer, which cutters are pressed into resilient engagement withassociated stationary shear plates or countercutters. The reciprocablecutter of the shaving section is located on the side of the associatedshear plate which faces away from the skin during use of the apparatus,and the reciprocable cutter of the trimmer is located on the side of theassociated shear plate which faces towards the skin.

In such a shaving head, which is described in Austrian Patent No.190,832, respectively the drivable cutters for the shaving section andfor the trimmers are constituted by a single elastic foil member, whichis interposed between the shear plates of the trimmers and of theshaving action. The shear plates of the trimmers are arranged on theframe of the shaving head, while the shear plate of the shaving sectionis accommodated on a support which can be readiy detached from the frameof the shaving head on which it is mounted. When mounting the carrieronto the frame of the shaving head the elastic foil member constitutingthe drivable cutters is pre-tensioned so that the cutters areresiliently pressed against the associated shear plates. Manufacturingsuch an elastic foil member is difficult, because it should comply withcontradictory requirements, i.e. on the one hand the cutters constitutedby the foil member should be as rigid as possible so as to obtain aproper cutting action, and on the other hand the foil member should behighly resilient so as to ensure that this member is in properengagement with the shear plates under initial tension.

SUMMARY OF THE NEW INVENTION The invention avoids these problems in asimple manner in that drivable cutter is characterized in that thereciprocable cutters for the shaving section and the trimmer are formedby separate members and are subject to the action of a spring device,which presses the two cutters apart and simultaneously causes them toengage with their associated stationary shear plate. The tworeciprocable cutters are coupled to the drive system of the dry-shavingapparatus so as to obtain a common reciprocating movement. Thus both thecutters and the spring device can be dimensioned for an optimum result.It suffices to provide a single spring device for bringing thereciprocable cutters into engagement with the associated shear plates.Finally, the common drive of the two cutters ensures a smooth movementand consequently also a perfect engagement of the cutters with the shearplates.

It is advantageous when the drivable cutter is characterized in that thereciprocable cutter and the associated stationary shear plate for twotrimmers are each formed by a channel-shaped member having bent sidesprovided with combs, and that the reciprocable cutter of the shavingsection lies within the channel-shaped reciprocable cutter of thetrimmers, and said cutter, in turn, lies within the channel-shaped sherplate of the trimmers, the two cutters of the trimmers being inengagement with each other along the combs only. This results in acompact construction, so that the cutting faces of the trimmers and ofthe shaving section can be substantially coplanar. Owing to thechannel-shaped cross-section of the cutter and of the shear plate of thetrimmers, these cutters are, moreover, very strong, thus ensuring aperfect engagement of the sliding combs.

In this respect it furthermore proves to be advantageous, when on thetwo side walls of one of the two channel-shaped members of the trimmersat least one lateral projection is provided: this is in order to ensurethat the straight-line guidance of the reciprocable cutter of thetrimmers is in sliding engagement with an opposite side wall zone of theother channel-shaped member. As can be seen, this ensures straight-lineguidance of the drivable cutter by the simplest means. It has proved tobe particularly benificial for the projections to be arranged onthereciprocable cutters of the trimmers for the sidewall zones of thechannel-shaped member of the shear plate near the projections to beconstituted by outwardly bent tabs. By bending the tabs which arereadily accessible on the external channelshaped member, simple andaccurate adjustment of the guidance is possible.

It has proved to be extremely simple and effective, for thechannel-shaped member of the shear plate of the trimmer to form theframe of the shaving head. This simple construction can be realized inthe present case owing to the previously mentioned, extremely stablebehaviour of a channel-shaped cutter.

Shaving heads are known in which the shear plate of the shaving sectionis formed by a shear foil and is arranged on a support which is pivotedto the frame of the shaving head and is retained in the operatingposition by a detachable locking device; such a shaving head can bereadily cleaned in the opened condition, and the fixed connection of theindividual parts thereof also ensures that these parts can only bere-assembled in the correct manner. If with such a shaving headaccording to the invention the channel-shaped shear plate of the trimmeritself forms the frame of the shaving head, it proves to beadvantageous, for simply tilting the support away from thechannel-shaped profile of the frame, when the support of the shear foilsis pivoted to the frame by means of two arms and the carrier is hingedto the arms and the arms, in turn, to the frame. The arms are simplyformed by the legs of a U-shaped bracket, which has bent free endsextending parallel to its yoke, the bent free ends and the yoke of thebracket serving as a swivel axis, both for the support and for thebracket.

In a construction which is extremely advantageous as regardsmanufacture, an actuating member has been provided for the coupling tothe drive system for the dry-shaving apparatus, to which the drivablecutter of the trimmer is attached and against which the spring devicecooperating with the drivable cutter of the shaving section rests. Thedrivable cutter of the shaving section is arranged on said member so asto be movable in the direction of the force of the spring device andpivotable about an axis which is perpendicular to this direction and tothe direction of the reciprocating movement of the cutter. In thismanner, when viewed from the drive system, the drivable cutter and thespring device together with the actuating member form a unit which isreciprocated as a whole.

The invention is described in more detail, by way of example, withreference to the drawings in which two embodiments are given.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section of ashaving head in which the spring device is by a leaf spring;

FIG. 2 is a section taken through line IIlI of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section of a shaving head in which the springdevice is constituted by two helical springs;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line IVIV of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIGS. 1 and 2 show a shavinghead which comprises a shaving section 1 and a trimmer 2. The shavingsection 1 has an upper or counter-cutter or shear plate formed by ashear foil 3, one surface of which faces the skin during use of thedry-shaving apparatus. Instead of a shear foil, which is flexible as awhole, it would of course also be possible to mount a cutter which initself is rigid. A cutter 4 adapted to be driven in a reciprocatingmanner, is in engagement with the surface of the shearfoil which facesaway from the skin, the cutter 4 being formed by an assembly of circuateblades. The shear foil is attached to the bridges S of a support orcarrier 6 by means of apertures made in its longer sides, said carrierbeing pivotable about a spindle 7 to a frame 8 of the shaving head andbeing retained in the operating position by means of a locking device 9which can be manually released; the dash-dot lines in FIG. 2 show thecarrier 6 when it is pivoted out of its operating position.

The trimmer has a counter-cutter 10 which during use of the apparatusfaces away from the skin. This counter-cutter is plate-shaped, has acomb 11 along one longitudinal side and is secured to the frame of theshaving head with the aid of screws 12. This countercutter cooperateswith a cutter 13 adapted to be driven in a reciprocating manner. Thiscutter 13 is also substantially plate-shaped and has curved longitudinalsides, one of which is provided with a comb 14 which faces the skin whenusing the apparatus. The other bent longitudinal side 15 and at leastone of tabs 16 bent out of the cutter 13 slide along the projections 17and 18 provided on the counter-cutter 10, thus ensuring straight-lineguidance for the cutter 13.

The drivable cutter 4 of the shaving section as well as the drivablecutter 13 of the trimmer, which as previously explained are formed byseparate parts, are made to engage resiliently with the associatedcountercutters in the usual manner. For this purpose a spring device 19has been provided, which presses the two cutters 4 and 13 apart, and atthe same time causes these cutters to engage the associatedcounter-cutters 3 and 10 of the shaving section and the trimmerrespectively. In the present case the spring device consists of a leafspring 19, which with its center portion rests on two tabs 20 protrudingfrom the cutter 13 of the trimmer, projections 21 provided on the tabsextending through the corresponding apertures in the leaf spring, thusdefining the position of the leaf spring relative to the cutter 13. Thefree ends of the leaf spring bear against the projections 22 provided onthe two ends of the cutter 4 of the shaving section. As a result, theleaf spring 19 acts between the two cutters 4 and 13 and presses themapart, thus causing the cutters to engage with the associatedcounter-cutters. The leaf spring 19 is tensioned when the counter-cutter3 of the shaving section is moved into the operating position, as willbe described hereinafter.

The two cutters 4 and 13 of the shaving section and the trimmerrespectively can be driven jointly by the drive system of thedry-shaving apparatus, thus ensuring a uniform motion. For this purposetwo cutters 4 and 13 are each provided with two tabs which are offsetwith respect to each other relative to the longitudinal plane ofsymmetry, each tab 23 on the cutter 4 being arranged opposite a tab 24on the cutter 13 and vice versa, so that the four tabs together form achannel, as indicated schematically in FIGS. 1 and 2 with dashed lines,which the free end 5 of a rocking arm of the drive system can engage. Inthis manner the two cutters can be made to reciprocate jointly and overthe same distance.

The shaving head is mounted such taht, when the support 6 pivoted awayfrom the frame of the shaving head, the cutter 13 can be placed on thecounter-cutter 10 of the trimmer; next the ieaf spring 19 is arrangedbetween the bridges 26 which connect the tabs 23 to the cutter 4, andthe projections 22, and the spring is then positioned on the tabs 20 ofthe cutter 13. Finally, the support 6 is pivoted towards the frame ofthe shaving head, until the support is retained by the locking device 9,this shear foil pressing onto the cutter 4 cooperating with it, whichthe cutter is moved in the direction of the cutter 13 of the trimmer, sothat the leaf spring 19 is tensioned. Thus, a single spring device 19brings the cutter 4 into engagement with the counter-cutter 3 and bringsthe cutter 13 of the trimmer into engagement with counter-cutter 10 ofthe trimmer.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show an embodiment of a shaving head having a shavingsection 1 and two trimmers 2. The drivable cutter 4 and thecounter-cutter 3 of the shaving section are similar to those in theembodiment according to FIGS. 1 and 2. The counter-cutter 10 of the twotrimmers has the shape of a channel in crosssection transverse to thelongitudinal axes, with bent longitudinal sides, each carrying a comb11. The channel defies a bottom part and upward extending side walls 30.This counter-cutter 10 forms the frame of the shaving head, which ispossible as a result of the great strength of such a profile. Thedrivable cutter 13 of the two trimmers also has the shape of a channelwith bent longitudinal sides each provided with a comb 14. The channelof the cutter 13 extends within the channel of the counter-cutter 10 ofthe trimmer, the cutter and the counter cutter being in engagement witheach other along the combs 11, 14 only which comprise the top edges oftheir respective side walls. The drivable cutter 4 of the shavingsection extends within the channel of the drivable cutter 13 of thetrimmers. This results in a very compact construction, thus enabling thecutting faces of the shaving section and of the two trimmers to extendsubstantially in one plane, so that they can be put into operation atthe same time.

For straight-line guidance of the cutter 13 of the trimmers twolaterally projecting tabs 28 have been provided on the two side walls 27of the channel of said cutter, which are located behind each otherviewed in the longitudinal direction of the channel and which slidinglyengage the tabs 29 projecting from the side walls 30 of the channel ofthe counter-cutter 10 of the trimmers. By bending the tabs 29 onaccurate adjustment of the guidance is possible.

The cutter 13 of the trimmers is mounted on a member 31, which is drivenby the drive system of the dryshaving apparatus. The cutter 13 ismounted on the member in such a way that the tabs 32 projecting from thebottom of the channel are pressed into recesses 33 in the member. Thecutter 4 of the shaving section is also mounted on the member, in such amanner that it is movable in a direction perpendicular to thecountercutter 3 of the shaving section and that it can pivot about animaginary axis which is perpendicular to said direction and to thedirection of the reciprocating movement, so that this cutter can alwaysfully engage with the counter-cutter. In this way the two cutters 4 and13 together with the member 3 form a unit, which can be driven jointlyby the drive system of the dryshaving apparatus. Also mounted on themember 31 are hook-shaped resilient projections 34, by means of whichsaid unit can be attached movably, though captively but per sedetachably, to the counter-cutter 10, which forms the frame for theshaving head, because these projections 34 can be positioned so as tosnap behind an opening 35 in the frame of the shaving head which servesfor the passage of the drive system.

In this embodiment the spring device consists of two helical springs 36,which at one end rest against the member 31 at the other end againstsupports 37 connected with the cutter 4 of the shaving section. In thisway the two springs, which are mechanically arranged in parallel witheach other, operate between the two cutters 4 and 13 of the shavingsection and the trimmers respectively, causing them to engage with theassociated counter-cutters. Since the helical springs 36 together withthe unit consisting of the cutters 4 and 13 and the member 31 arejointly reciprocated by the drive system, they are not subject tobending stressed, so that they always press the cutters against theassociated counter-cutters, which is important for an effective cuttingaction.

The counter-cutter of the shaving section, for example a shear foil 3,is again arranged on a support 6, which via two arms 38 is pivoted, tothe counter-cutter forming the frame of the shaving head, the support,in turn, being pivoted to the arms and the arms to the counter-cutter10. The arms 38 are formed by the legs of a U-shaped bracket, which hasbent free ends 40 which extend in parallel with the yoke 39. The yoke 39is pivoted to the counter-cutter 10 by means of bent tabs 41 thereof.The support 6 is pivoted to the free ends 40 by widening them by meansof an upsetting operation, after they have been inserted in thecorresponding apertures in the support. Thus, the support can be pivotedso far relative to the frame of the shaving head, as shown in FIG. 4 bythe dashed lines, that all the cutters, for example for cleaningpurposes, are readily accessible. The support can be locked in itsoperating or closed position on the frame of the shaving head by meansof two latches 43, which can be moved so that tips 43a extend intoaperture 6a in support 6, when the latches are urged by the action of anexpanding spring 42.

In a simlar way as in the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 and 2, thespring device formed by the two helical springs 36 is tensioned when thesupport 6 is brought into the operating position, i.e. the shear foil 3presses the cutter 4 towards the frame of the shaving head, the combs 14of the cutter 13 being simultaneously brought into engagement with thecombs 1 1 of the counter-cutter 10 of the trimmer. This means that asingle spring device again causes the drivable cutters of the shavingsection as well as the trimmers to engage with the associatedcounter-cutters.

It is obvious that various modifications of the aforementionedembodiments are possible within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a shaving head for a dry shaving apparatus, the shaving headincluding a shaving section having a shaving shear plate and an adjacentand cooperating shaving cutter reciprocably movable along their commonlongitudinal axis, a trimmer having a trimmer shear plate and anadjacent and cooperating trimmer cutter reciprocally movable along theircommon longitudinal axis which is parallel to said shaver section axis,drive means coupled to both of said cutters to produce common reciprocalmotion, the improvement in combination therewith, wherein said trimmershear plate and trimmer cutter are channel-shaped in cross-sectiontransverse of said longitudinal axes and are generally concentric, eachchannel defining a bottom part, side walls extending outward of thebottom part, and top edges of said walls with cutting combs defined oncorresponding and adjacent top edges of the trimmers shear plate andcutter, and said shaver section is situated within said channel shape ofsaid trimmer, with the shaver and trimmer cutters being spaced apart,the shaver shear plate being outward of the shaver cutter and thetrimmer shear plate inward of the trimmer cutter, the shaving headfurther comprising spring means intermediate the two cutters urging themapart and resiliently against their respective shear plates.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said trimmer shear plate andcutter comprise a mating pair of elements, the shaving head furthercomprising a projection extending from one of said pair of elements, anda coresponding straight-line part extending longitudinally on the otherof said pair, the projection being slidably engaged to said straightline part to ensure relative straight line motion between said elements.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said projection extends fromthe trimmer cutter, with the straight line part on said trimmer shearplate.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said channel-shaped trimmershear plate comprises a frame of the shaving head.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said shear plate comprises aperforated foil, said shaving head further comprises a support means towhich said foil is attached and which support means is pivotally securedto the frame.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said trimmer shear plate has acomb on each of its two top edges, and said trimmer cutter has acorresponding comb on each of its two top edges, forming two pairs ofcutting elements.

3 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION paten N3,855,697 Dated December 24, 1974 Invent0r(s) GERALD MEYER ET AL It iscertified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

The "Foreign Application Priority Data"should be changed toAustrian............Al697/72- Col. 1, line 63, "sher" should be -shear-Col. 4, line 15, "5" should be 25- line 19, "takt" should be -that--Col. 5, line 1, "on" should be --an-- Claim 2, line 5, "coresponding"should be -corresponding- Signed and sealed this 6th day of May 1975.

(SEAL) Attest:

C. MARSHALL DANN RUTH C. MASON Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officerand Trademarks

1. In a shaving head for a dry shaving apparatus, the shaving headincluding a shaving section having a shaving shear plate and an adjacentand cooperating shaving cutter reciprocably movable along their commonlongitudinal axis, a trimmer having a trimmer shear plate and anadjacent and cooperating trimmer cutter reciprocally movable along theircommon longitudinal axis which is parallel to said shaver section axis,drive means coupled to both of said cutters to produce common reciprocalmotion, the improvement in combination therewith, wherein said trimmershear plate and trimmer cutter are channel-shaped in cross-sectiontransverse of said longitudinal axes and are generally concentric, eachchannel defining a bottom part, side walls extending outward of thebottom part, and top edges of said walls with cutting combs defined oncorresponding and adjacent top edges of the trimmer''s shear plate andcutter, and said shaver section is situated within said channel shape ofsaid trimmer, with the shaver and trimmer cutters being spaced apart,the shaver shear plate being outward of the shaver cutter and thetrimmer shear plate inward of the trimmer cutter, the shaving headfurther comprising spring means intermediate the two cutters urging themapart and resiliently against their respective shear plates. 2.Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said trimmer shear plate andcutter comprise a mating pair of elements, the shaving head furthercomprising a projection extending from one of said pair of elements, anda coresponding straight-line pArt extending longitudinally on the otherof said pair, the projection being slidably engaged to said straightline part to ensure relative straight line motion between said elements.3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said projection extends fromthe trimmer cutter, with the straight line part on said trimmer shearplate.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said channel-shapedtrimmer shear plate comprises a frame of the shaving head.
 5. Apparatusaccording to claim 4 wherein said shear plate comprises a perforatedfoil, said shaving head further comprises a support means to which saidfoil is attached and which support means is pivotally secured to theframe.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said trimmer shearplate has a comb on each of its two top edges, and said trimmer cutterhas a corresponding comb on each of its two top edges, forming two pairsof cutting elements.